In 1968, Peggy Fleming won an Olympic Gold Medal in Grenoble, France and helped usher in a new era for figure skating. She won 5 National titles and 3 World titles in addition to that Olympic gold medal. Today, 39 years later, she still remains the calm and graceful symbol of a sport that has weathered a storm of popularity and controversy. Since 1981, Peggy has been an on aire analyst for ABC Sports. She also is the proud mother of 2 boys, grandmother to 3 grandsons, and has been happily married for 37 years. She and her husband, Greg, also have their own business, Fleming Jenkins Vineyard & Winery. In January 1998, Peggy faced a new challenge, the diagnosis of breast cancer. Her prognosis is excellent, and she is sharing her experiences with the public so that other women will be strengthened.

Sharon Osbourne is a music manager and promoter, television personality and presenter. She came into public prominence after appearing in MTV’s reality show “The Osbournes.” She later became a judge on the talent shows “The X Factor” and “America’s Got Talent.” Her autobiography, Extreme, has proceeded to sell in excess of two million copies. In July 2002, Osbourne was diagnosed with colon cancer. In August 2004, she founded the Sharon Osbourne Colon Cancer Program at Cedars Sinai Hospital. In addition, Osbourne has lent her support to design limited edition T-shirts or vests for the ‘Little Tee Campaign’ for Breast Cancer Care, which donates money for breast cancer.

At the young age of 16, Oksana Baiul won the Olympic Gold Medal for her home country of Ukraine. After her win at Lillehammer, Oksana moved to the United States and began her career as a professional skater. Over the years she has remained busy participating in figure skating tours and competitions around the country, including Champions on Ice, Stars on Ice, CBS Sports Ice Wars, CBS Sports Olympic Winterfest, the Goodwill Games, Celebration of Gold and Hallmark Skaters™ Championship to name a few. Having lost her mother to Ovarian Cancer at a young age, Oksana is thrilled to be able to use her Olympic achievements to support a charity so close to her heart. She hopes to lend emotional support to those who are living through what she experienced and use her dedication to sport to teach others that perseverance and strength of mind are vital ingredients in the fight against cancer

Tanith and Ben won the silver medal at the 2006 Olympics in Torino, making them the first U.S. ice dancing team to win an Olympic medal since 1976. The duo began skating together in 1998, and qualified to be part of the Olympic team at the 2002 Games in Salt Lake. However, because Tanith, who is Canadian-born, was not yet a citizen, the team had to regrettably skip the games that year. After Tanith became a U.S. citizen in 2005 and the pair won the Olympic silver medal the year following, the duo has continued to make their mark in the sport, winning their 4th consecutive U.S. Championships, and medaling for the third straight time at the World Championships. In 2010, Tanith & Ben hope to bring home the first Olympic Gold Medal in U.S. Ice Dancing at the Vancouver Winter Olympic Games.

The Canadian skater holds three World Professional and four World Amateur Championship titles, three Canadian Profession and four Canadian Amateur Championships, and competed in three Winter Olympics. In 1998, Browning completed the first quadruple jump in competition for which he has an entry in the Guinness Book of Records. He was also the recipient of the Order of Canada and the Lou Marsh Award for top Canadian Athlete. Kurt was inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame in 1994 and Canada’s Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 2000.

For the 21-year old world-class American skater Sasha Cohen, the 2005-2006 competitive season was a standout year. Sasha won the Olympic Silver medal, her first U.S. National Championship and, at the end of a long, tiring season, captured the Bronze medal at the World Championships. Since 2003, Sasha has placed among the top 3 in 20 consecutive competitions. She now owns three World medals – two silvers and one bronze. In addition she has an Olympic silver medal, one U.S. title and four U.S. silver medals.

Ekaterina (aka Katia) Gordeeva has competed as a single skater and as a pair skater. Although she is most well known for the medals she won with her late husband and partner Sergei Grinkov. Together the pair won two Olympic gold medals, three World Professional Championship titles and four Senior World Championships. After her husband’s death, she continued to successfully compete as a single skater winning second place at the World Professional Championships in 1998.

Before deciding to skate as a pair, Rena was a two-time Olympian for Japan in singles and pairs, and John was a member of the U.S. National Team. Together they are the reigning U.S. Champions and finished an impressive seventh at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torina, the best full-field internationals finish for a U.S. pair since the 2002 worlds. At both the U.S. Championships and the Olympics the pair made history by completing a throw triple Axel. No pairs team has ever completed the move before. Tonight the pair is skating to celebrate Rena’s brave battle with and survivorship over lung cancer.

Nancy Kerrigan came to prominence when the U.S women swept the 1991 World Championships. Her career then headed upward, winning the bronze medal in the 1992 Winter Olympics, the silver medal at the 1992 World Championships and gold at the 1993 U.S. Championships. In 1994, following the attack on her in Detroit at the Nationals, Kerrigan made a courageous comeback to finish as the Silver Medalist. After the Olympics Kerrigan starred in dozens of shows including “Champions on Ice”, “Grease on Ice”, “Footloose on Ice” and her own “Halloween on Ice”. In addition to her role as wife and mother, Kerrigan recently appeared in “Skating with Celebrities”, served as a correspondent for “The Insider” at the 2006 Olympics and appeared in the comedy “Blades of Glory”. She currently hosts “Nancy Kerrigan’s World of Skating” and is the National Spokesperson for IceNetwork.com as well as the Foundation Fighting Blindness.

Rosalynn is a 3-time U.S. Champion, World Champion and Olympic Silver medalist. Known for her artistry and beauty, Rosalynn enjoyed one of the most successful and brilliant professional skating careers of all time. She performed in “Disney on Ice” and then joined “Stars on Ice” as an original cast member. She performed in an unprecedented 13 seasons with “Stars on Ice”. Rosalynn is also a skating broadcaster having worked with every network throughout her career. These days, Rosalynn is married and is focusing her talents and energy on her home construction and design business. She also owns two stores in the Seattle area, Bella Tesori and Bella Bambini. They will be opening in the fall of 2007.

Kristi is one of the most popular and respected skaters of all time. She began her competitive career in both singles and pairs skating. After winning the World Junior pairs event, she decided to concentrate on her singles career. Kristi went on to become a U.S. Champion, two-time World Champion, and the 1992 Olympic Champion. Her Olympic Gold medal was the first Gold medal for a U.S. female figure skater since Dorothy Hamill. Kristi enjoyed an extremely successful professional career by touring in “Stars on Ice” for ten years and by winning every professional competitive title. She has also appeared in numerous television specials. Kristi is married to NHL star, Bret Hedican, and is a mother of two young daughters. She is devoted to her Always Dream Foundation based in the California Bay area and continues to be very active as a spokesperson for various companies.

Anastacia has sold an incredible 20 million albums worldwide since the release of her debut album Not That Kind in 2000. She has also scored an impressive 12 hit singles, three of them top ten smash hits and won countless international awards. In January of 2003, Anastacia confirmed to the world that she had breast cancer. While undergoing treatment, Anastacia returned to the studio to record her self-titled album that reflected the reality of her life’s experiences and the raw emotions that accompanied them. In November 2005, she released an impressive collection of greatest hits, Pieces of A Dream. In addition to her work as a singer/songwriter, Anastacia has also channeled her energies into raising awareness and funds that specifically target younger women who are stricken and who have no family history of the disease. For this purpose, the Anastacia Fund was established through The Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds is not only a singer, songwriter, movie producer, record producer and multiinstrumentalist, but also a 10-time Grammy awardwinner. His dedication to his own music and others’ has resulted in more than 100 million career sales, and has been a dominant creative force for nearly two decades. Kenny’s countless honors including, Grammy awards for Producer Of the Year in 1992, ‘95, ‘96 and ‘97, plus numerous NAACP Image Awards, Billboard Music Awards, and American Music Awards, established him as the greatest hitmaker of the ‘90s. In addition to his work with world reknowned artists Babyface’s own string of pop and R&B crossover hits is equally impressive. This September, Babyface released Playlist, a collection of new compositions and cover versions of some of his favorites, including the first single, James Taylor’s “Fire & Rain.”

Nancy and Ann Wilson are the creative sisters behind Heart, a rock ‘n roll group with more than 20 Top 40 hits and album sales of well over 30 million. The duo most recently released Jupiters Darling in 2004, and they continue to perform live shows that sell out stadiums across North America. Ann Wilson released her first-ever solo album, Hope and Glory this September which includes guest performance from her sister Nancy, Elton John, Alison Krauss and many more. Nancy and Ann Wilson have been involved in a number of charitable causes including breast cancer. Most recently Heart agreed to perform on Olivia’s first “Cruise for our Cause” in 2008 benefiting the Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation.

A singer, songwriter and actress, Olivia Newton-John’s career has spanned more than three decades. Best known as a singer, Olivia has over 25 Top 40 singles, more than half of which went Top 10, including five #1 hits. Her latest recording, “Grace and Gratitude,” an album for relaxation to promote spiritual balance and physical and emotional healing, was released in September 2006. In the 90’s, Olivia successfully overcame her own battle with breast cancer, which inspired her self-penned and produced album, GAIA. Her personal victory against cancer also led her to announce her partnership with Austin Health and the creation of the “Olivia Newton-John Cancer Centre” (ONJCC) on the Austin Campus in her hometown, Melbourne, Australia. The ONJCC will provide a comprehensive range of services and facilities for cancer treatment, education, training and research.

Natalie Cole is an American singer and songwriter. She is the daughter of noted crooner Nat King Cole, who died of lung cancer when Natalie was 15. Her debut album in 1975, Inseparable, resulted in chart success with the single "This Will Be (An Everlasting Love)." Her performance of the song won her a 1976 Grammy for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance. She continued to have hits through out the 1980's but is probably best remembered for her 1991 album, Unforgettable... with Love, featuring her own arrangements of her father's greatest hits. Natalie is now an eight time Grammy Award Winner and recently released her twentieth studio album, Leavin'. Natalie has also carved out a secondary career in acting.

One of country music’s best-loved artists, Craig Morgan has made a name for himself with massive radio airplay of his signature hits: “Almost Home”— which was named Music Row Song of the Year in 2003, the chart-topping summer anthem “Redneck Yacht Club,” and “That’s What I Love About Sunday”- -which spent five weeks at #1 and was Billboard’s Most Played Country Song of the Year in 2005. Craig has made over 170 appearances on The Grand Ole Opry, and plays over 200 sold-out concerts a year. He spent ten years on active duty in the U.S. Army before launching his music career, and makes a point to perform as often as possible at US military installations both in the US and abroad. He lives just outside of Nashville with his wife Karen and their four children.

 

Rascal Flatts- Gary LeVox, Joe Don Rooney and Jay DeMarcus- have sold more than 15 million albums and wrapped 2006 as the best selling act in all genres of music, selling over 5 million albums last year alone. They are the reigning CMA, ACM and CMT Vocal Group of the Year and were named Artist of the Year at the close of 2006 by Billboard Magazine. In 2004, the group released Feels Like Today with hidden track titled “Skin,” about a teenage girl’s battle with cancer. A year later when it was released as a single it quickly climbed the charts hitting #2. For the last three years, Rascal Flatts has hosted benefit concerts in Nashville, raising more than $2.2 million for the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt. On September 25, Rascal Flatts released their latest album, Still Feels Good.

Joss Stone has sold more than 7.5 million albums worldwide; been nominated for four Grammy Awards; appeared onstage with James Brown, The Rolling Stones, Stevie Wonder, Elton John, Patti Labelle, Mavis Staples, Donna Summer, and Smokey Robinson; and performed for more than 200,000 people at the 2005 Live 8 Concert in London. She also performed a powerful medley of the Janis Joplin songs “Cry Baby” and “Piece of My Heart” with Melissa Ethridge at the 2005 Grammy Awards Show. The live recording was sold on iTunes and all of the proceeds went to support cancer research organizations. In March of this year, Joss released her third album, Introducing Joss Stone which she feels expresses her true musical vision.

Founded in 2003 by Nichole Hancock, our signature program is the first ever Shades of Pink Breast Cancer Survivors Mass Choir. The choir is comprised of over 70 breast cancer survivors from all over North Georgia . Under the direction of Vivian Varner the group has been inspiring audiences all over the country for nearly three years. The vision of the Choir is prove that there is life after a cancer diagnosis by offering program that allows breast cancer survivors to celebrate their survival through song. This unique type of music therapy soothes the soul, by allowing one to testify through song how “they survived their storm.” Susan Polis Schultz states, "Music transcends barriers among people." Music is a universal language that has the ability to reach a wide variety of individuals regardless of age, ability, or cultural background. Because of its versatility we have chosen to incorporate music and song as an instrument to increase awareness and education about breast cancer. Research has also shown that music therapy can also help people who have had cancer to feel less anxious and more relaxed, as well as feel less pain, which in turn can improve the overall quality of life for many of our members and other survivors. The Choir has performed for over 200,000 people across the country at over 50 venues since May 2004. For more information, visit www.shadesofpink.org.